The journey would be an exceedingly long one. The Star Luo Empire lay in the south of the continent, which meant she first had to circle back to the Heaven Dou Empire, then find the Yangtze River, which ran through nearly half the continent, and follow it north. Once she reached the river basin near the Far North, she would search for unusual places and investigate them one by one until she finally pinpointed Tian Meng's location.
If she asked, Bibi Dong would certainly be willing to assign a Titled Douluo to protect her. At the very least, Yue Guan would be more than happy to go. But Tian Meng's existence really could not be revealed to anyone else, so she had to undertake this adventure alone.
Before leaving, she had already made every preparation. She had packed enough food for a full year; even if she became trapped somewhere, she could stretch it to three years by eating sparingly. Her various homemade firearms and ammunition went without saying. These weapons were all advanced models she had devoted the past few years to reproducing, with every sort of firearm she could need, including large-caliber anti-materiel weapons specifically meant for any heavily armored Soul Beasts she might encounter. Although their accuracy could not yet match that of a sniper rifle, their effectiveness at close range was guaranteed.
These weapons would let her inflict damage on any Soul Beast under twenty thousand years old. Combined with her armor, which had now been upgraded to the Soul Emperor level and offered considerable protection, exploring the Far North would be no problem as long as she stayed cautious.
After keeping a low profile and hitching rides across Heaven Dou's northern border, Leng Xiyue followed the Yangtze River north. Not long after passing through the outskirts, she discovered an unusual pool.
The moment she approached, the system's voice rang out:
"Ding! The host has been detected activating a hidden quest condition. The challenge quest will now be revised." "Revision complete. The advancement quest remains unchanged: acquire a Soul Ring no less than three thousand years old. Quest reward: Great General Fragment ×1 (collect three to draw the intelligent persona of a Great General from another world and reconstruct a physical body for them)." "New challenge quest: help the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm surpass the million-year threshold and have him sacrifice himself. Reward: one predetermined legendary skill, Time Freeze. This skill can undergo further evolution after special materials are collected, strengthening its effects. Additional reward: choose one of three basic legions." "The system can also reconstruct a physical body for Tian Meng if he sacrifices himself willingly. His strength will be at the Soul Emperor level, with his innate skills retained and additional skills supplied to fill the gaps."
Hearing the system's sudden notifications, Leng Xiyue breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed she would not have to go to all the trouble of investigating each location.
The bitter cold of the Far North was nothing like the winter chill she had experienced in the Martial Soul Forest. Temperatures below minus sixty degrees were already the norm here, but they were still within tolerable limits. Once her psionic armor covered her body, she no longer felt cold.
Even at such temperatures, the pool's emerald waters still rippled. That could only mean one thing-the water was far colder than the weather, so much so that the air around it was colder than elsewhere.
Leng Xiyue strode forward. With every step, she could clearly feel the bone-piercing chill deepen. Had her armor been too low-level, she probably would not have been able to advance any farther. Fortunately, its defenses were strong enough that resisting this cold posed no problem.
Reaching the edge of the pool, Leng Xiyue picked up a stone nearby and tossed it in. The stone was instantly frozen into a block of ice, then assimilated into the water as though nothing had happened. The sight made her scalp prickle.
Leng Xiyue took out a deep-blue pearl and tossed it in as well. It was a Water-Avoidance Pearl she had bought in Star Luo City, a treasure of fairly good quality that cost a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins apiece. But to someone as wealthy as her, the price meant nothing, and she had bought three in one go.
To her surprise, the Water-Avoidance Pearl fared no better than the stone. Before it could sink very far, the barrier surrounding it that kept the water at bay abruptly shattered, and the pearl was swallowed by the pool without a trace.
Now Leng Xiyue's expression turned decidedly grim. No wonder such a conspicuous place had attracted no Soul Beasts willing to jump in and explore. Even tens of thousands of years of cultivation probably would not be enough to withstand it, would they?
She did not believe that, in all the time this place had existed, Tian Meng was the only Soul Beast to have discovered it. If that was the case, her own armor might not hold up either.
Suddenly, something occurred to Leng Xiyue, and she hurriedly asked Xiao Bai, "Xiao Bai, this water... can I absorb it?"
If a cavern of ten-thousand-year cold marrow lay beneath this pool, then after being infused by that cold marrow for so many years, its water should also be a decent cultivation resource.
In that case, could she feed it directly to the system as psionic energy experience for after her breakthrough?
"You finally thought of that." Xiao Bai crouched down and touched the water before saying, "The water here isn't a pure resource, but the energy accumulated over tens of thousands of years is still quite substantial. I can help you convert it into psionic energy first and store it, then release it to you after your breakthrough. Absorbing this entire pool should let you gain about three levels immediately after advancing."
Increasing her psionic energy was exceedingly difficult. Going from level zero to level ten alone required energy equivalent to a thirty-thousand-year Soul Ring, while level ten to level twenty raised that requirement to a hundred thousand years. Given how much the upper limit increased at each stage, going from level twenty to level thirty might require two hundred thousand or even three hundred thousand years of cultivation.
Speaking of that, Leng Xiyue always felt that Xiao Bai was hiding something from her. Her current psionic energy level clearly did not match the combat power she actually gained. At present, she could at most fight opponents ten levels above her, yet the energy she had absorbed already amounted to a hundred and thirty thousand years of Soul Beast cultivation. No matter how she looked at it, that should have been enough to bring her combat power to the Soul Emperor or Soul Saint level, with perhaps a few fewer skills. Being only level twenty now was plainly abnormal.
Recalling the explanation given when the system activated, the system could clearly support cultivation through different systems; it did not necessarily have to be paired with psionic energy. Still, she had to admit that psionic energy was an exceptionally easy ability to cultivate. She did not have to waste any time on dull, tedious cultivation, leaving her more time for practical combat training and reading to broaden her knowledge.
Xiao Bai handled all her level increases, and Xiao Bai also had the final say on exactly how much energy she needed. Perhaps Xiao Bai had absorbed most of it herself.
But Leng Xiyue did not care. Even if all of this ultimately turned out to be Xiao Bai's deception, and she only wanted to nurture Leng Xiyue before taking over her body, that would not matter either. Perhaps that was simply her fate.
After spending five years together, she firmly believed Xiao Bai was not that sort of person and must have her own reasons. Otherwise, if Xiao Bai merely saw her as a target for possession, why bother forming an emotional bond?
"What are you thinking about? Come on, come on, come on, time to get to work!" Seeing Leng Xiyue's mood suddenly sink, Xiao Bai was a little puzzled, but urged her on nonetheless.
"All right." Leng Xiyue shook her head, cast those unpleasant thoughts out of her mind, then reached out and began drawing water from the pool.
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